Fence-post and base



(No Model.) a 2 sheets-sheet 1.

. F. L. PAIRCHILD.

FENCE POST AND BASE.

10.362.431 Emma May s, 1887..

- 2 sheets-sheet 2. A

D. L I H C Dm. I A F L. F. ,u d o M o /N\ EENGE POST AND BASE.

Patented May 3, 1887.

EIN

M u Hummu Eg@ EN they are burned.

UNITED STATES lPATENT Ormes.

FRANK L. FAIROHILD, OF MOUNT VERNON, OHIO.

FENCE-POST AND BASE.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,437, dated May 3, 1887.

Application filed March 15,\1887. Serial No. 280,981. (No model.)

and shank, although it is also applicable, inv

part at least, to a post having a wooden stem.

. My invention has mainly reference to the construction and arrangement of the base portion of the post, my object being to obtain cheaply and inexpensively a frame contractible both longitudinally and laterally, so as to adapt itself to varying sizes of sectional pottery bases, these variations being due to the shrinking or warping of the pottery bases when It is also my object Vto so form andv arrange the pottery or burnt-clay bases that .I can tit them to or use them with a frame composed of channel-iron or 1netal,. the object being to have some portion of the clay base t into or between the side anges by which the web of the frame is bounded. i

By the use of channel-iron the post can be made easily, cheaply, and of great strength and durability, while by fitting the clay base into or upon a frame having one or both sides composed of such shaped metal a strong, convenient, and permanent union between the two is insured. These and other features of my invention willbe understood byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and Fig; 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3, Fig. 1, of a fence-post embodying my invention in its preferred form. Fig. 4 is a view of one of the upper cross-bars which connect the two sides of the frame between which the pottery or burnt-clay sections are held. Fig. 5 is a plan of the lower crossbar of said frame. Figs. 6 and 7 are front and side views of a post having a modified arrangement of the base.

Figs. 8 and 9 are like views of still another modification of the same. Fig. 1() is a side elevation` of a metal post, showing a modified arrangement of the brace-rod. Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a fence-post in which the stem is of wood. Figs. 12 to 20, inclusive, are sections of different forms of clay bases that may be used.

Hereinafter I shall, for convenience sake, designate the burnt-clay or pottery bases or sections merely as clay bases or sections.

The fence-post which I prefer is a metallic fence-post, A, of channel=iron-that is to say, of a section similar to that shown in Fig. 3- having its stem aud shank in one piece. The shank constitutes o'ne side of the base-holding frame, the other leg being formed by a metal strip, B, preferably of the same shape in crosssection as the postA, as indicated also in Fig. 3.

The parts A and B are substantially the same in the posts represented by Figs. 1 to 10, inclusive, the only difference being that in Fig. 10 vthe part B is separate from the diagonal brace-rod B', while in the post represented 1n the other figures referred to the parts B B' are integral or'in one piece. l

The metal piece which forms the shank B in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, extends from the point where the shank and stem of the post meet upward and diagonally, meeting and being bolted to the stem of the post at about the point a, the upper end of said extended part or brace rod B being properly shaped and formed to admit of its being thus fastened to the stem of t-he post.

In Figs. 1 and 2' there are two upper crossbars, C, applied to and extending between the opposite side flanges of the post A and the part B. These cross-bars are bolted or riveted to the side anges of B in this instance, and at their other ends are held to the side ilanges of A by nuts, which pass through slotsv or elongated openings b in the erossbars, `(see Fig. 4,) the purpose of these elongated openings being to allow the frame at the top to be drawn together more or less, as required by the clay sections or bases.

The lower cross bar, D, has openings e d formed in it, of a shape approximating the cross section of A and B, respectively, (see Fig. 5,) that portion of one of the openings which receives the web of the leg of the frame (in this instance the opening c for the shank of the post) being widened, as indicated at c', Fig. 5, to allow the legs to be at different distances apart at the bottom, as required.

ICO

The bottom cross-bar, D, is held in place by wedges c, which are driven into holes formed in the web of the legsA B just below the point where the cross-bar comes. A wedge, f, may also be driven into the elongated openings c on the outside of the web of leg A. In this way I obtain simply andinexpensively aframe for holding the clay base which readily adjusts itself to the varying size of the latter.

As a substitute for the cross-hars C D and wedges and elongated openings just described, I can connect, as seen in Figs. 6, 7, the legs A B at the top by a cross-bolt, E, and at the bottom by a cross-bolt, F,the latter passing through vertically-elongated openings g in the webs of A and B; or, as shown in Figs. 8 andi), the two legs may be connected by cross-bolts G, which pass through the clay sections, the openings It in the webs of A and B, through which the two lower bolts pass, being vertically elongated, the holes in the clay sections through which the bolts pass having of course a corresponding form; or the bolts, instead of passing through the sect-ions,might pass between them, in which event the meeting faces of the seetions should be grooved to receive the bolts. In this last-described construction elongated openings in the webs similar to the openings h would of course be required, and also a bolt beneath the lowermost section passing through corresponding openings.

In Fig. 10 the upper cross-bar, C, is considerably longer than that shown in the other iigures, the brace-rod B being attached at its lower end to the rear extremity of the crossbar, while the leg B is attached tothe said bar at a point between the brace-rod and the post A. In this way I get a much stronger brace, which can be employed when a very strong and stiff post is called for.

The clay sections are indicated at II. Any desired number may be used to form the base. I have shown in the drawings a base composed of three sections. It is extremely desirable, to insure the thorough union of paris, as well as to cause them to mutuallystii'fen and brace one another, that the legs of the frame and clay sections should be intimately connected. To this end I form the sections so that a portion of them shall enter and be seated in the space included between the side flanges of the channel-iron legs A B. This result is accomplished by molding or otherwise forming the sections on appropriate opposite faces with tongues i, which enter and t between the side flanges of the legs. It is preferred that these tongues should (as shown iu the drawings) have the section of a truncated cone or pyramid-that is to say, should be wider at the base than at the outer end,with tapering or slant ing sides-and the interior opposite faces of the ianges of the legs ABare rolled o1` formed with a corresponding taper or inclination, so that when the bases and the legs are brought together they may more readily fit. 'Io the same end a small head (indicated atj in Fig.

12) may also be formed upon and lengthwise of the sides of the tongues, which can be rubbed off at points as the sections are forced into the frame, so as to afford a straight true bearingsurface in case the sections should be warped in burning.

In Fig. 12 the tongues project from the faces of the section. In Fig. 13 they are formed by making two grooves in each ot' the two opposite faces of the section. In Fig. 14 there is but one tongue in the section, this being to provide for a case on which one of the legsc. g., the leg B-has no side flanges to meet the section. In Fig. 15 one of thc tongues projects from the face ofthe section and the other is sunken-that is, it is formed by grooving the face of the section.

Figs. 16 to 20 show a form of section or base which can be used to much advantage in some instances. It consists of a hollow cylindrical tile having on or in it diametrically-opposite tongues, formed in either of the ways herein before indicated. In the form of tile illustrated in Figs. 17 and 18 thelegs of the frame are supposed to pass inside the tile and to be provided upon the exterior' opposite faces of their webs with side flanges to enter the tongues formed upon the interior of the tile.

In Fig. 11 the stem of the post is a wooden stem, X. The legs of the frame consist of channel-iron bolted to opposite faces of the wooden stem. In other respects the post is similar to what has already been described.

I do not here claim, broadly, a wrought metal fence-post having its stem integral with its shank, in combination with a shank-frame (of which the shank forms part) contractible from the bottom, a base contained in said frame, and means for contracting and tightening the frame upon the base, for this is thc subject of my application, Serial No. 186,842, filed December 28, 1885; and in still another application, iiled January 4, 1887, Serial No. 223,367, I have described and claimed a fence-post comprising a stem, a two-legged shank, a burnt clay base formed with separate and distinct openings through it-one foreach leg of thc shank a shoulder or abutment at the top of the two-legged shank, and means for forcing the base up against said abutment; and I also have provided in said application that the said shank-receiving openings in the burnt-clay block may have ribbed or corrugated interior surfaces. I claim none oi' these things here.

IIaving now described my improvements and the manner in which the same are or may be carried into effect, what I claim herein as new and of my own invention is- 1. The combination of a fence-post provided with a base-receiving metallic frame, one or both of the legs of which have longitudinal side anges or are of channel iron, with a burnt-clay or pottery base tongued so as to enter and fit between said anges, as and for the purposes hereiubefore set forth.

2.'A metallic post flanged or of channel IOO section and provided with a base'- receiving frame, one leg of which consists of the shank of said post, in combination with a burntclay or pottery base tongued so as to enter and fit between the ilanges of the frame, as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, with the flanged metal post A and the similarly-flanged leg or bar B, of a burnt-clay or pottery base provided with tongues which enter and t between the ilanges of said parts, as and for the purposes set forth.

et. A metallic fence-post provided With a contraetible and expansible flanged base-holding frame, in combination with` tongned burntclay cr pottery sections held or retained by said frame and engaging with their tongues.

the iianges thereof, substantially as andl for the purposes set forth.

5. In combination with the metallic post A and leg B, the upper cross-bar, C, having elongated opening b, the bottom cross-bar, D, having elongated opening c', and the Wedges ef, or the specified equivalents of said cross-bars and wedges, all substantially as hereinbefore shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my .hand this 18th day of February, 1887.

FRANK L. FAIRCHILD. 

